It's here— fall seabird migration has begun!! The first fall migrant SABINE'S GULLS showed up on our July 25, 2008 pelagic trip from Monterey Bay. It was a day full of seabirds, from the moment we departed the dock, finding the LONG-TAILED DUCK, until we returned to the harbor in the late afternoon, finding the HARLEQUIN DUCK— with thousands of shearwaters throughout the day. Highlights included: 62 BLACK-FOOTED ALBATROSSES (one with a numbered leg band of a bird banded in Hawaii), 44 PINK-FOOTED SHEARWATERS, and 15-20,000 SOOTY SHEARWATERS. The nesting BRANDT'S CORMORANTS in the harbor both on the Coast Guard jetty and the commercial fishing boat, had nearly full-grown youngsters. A sprinkling of RED-NECKED PHALAROPES were returning from their northern breeding grounds. Only 2 CASSIN'S AUKLETS, and no Rhinoceros Auklets were found. The oddity of the day was an oiled ANCIENT MURRELET off of Otter Point. This chocolate covered bird stumped us until we got much better views, and could confirm its identity with the use of digital photographs. ELEGANT TERNS were in view throughout the day, while 1 POMARINE JAEGER made a show at the day's end. Many COMMON MURRES, father/chick pairs were calling back and forth to each other. The chicks are notably smaller than the adults, making them an identification challenge for the beginner seabirders who often mistake these chicks for murrelets. In the gull department: a single juvenile RING-BILLED GULL was in the harbor and 2 Western-Glaucous-winged Gulls were offshore. SEA OTTERS put on a fantastic show, feeding on crabs in the harbor with their pups. HUMPBACK WHALES, NORTHERN RIGHT WHALE DOLPHINS and PACIFIC WHITE-SIDED DOLPHINS made our day very interesting.
This was just the tip of the fall season, which should progress as the weeks more along. There is a LOT of food in Monterey Bay. And, reports of great swarms of krill at Cordell Bank have been reported. So, it looks it is going to be a great season for seabirding. Our next trip, is this Friday from Bodega Bay, August 1. If you are interested in this trip, please contact me by email noon on July 31st for a reservation. Spaces are available on the August 12th trip from Bodega Bay as well. Our August 10th trip to the Farallon Islands is sold out. The line up of trips is as follows:
BODEGA BAY:
AUG 1, Leaders: Lisa Hug, Jennifer Green, Alan Hopkins, Steve Howell, Matt Brady, Ryan Terrill, Don Doolittle, Debra Shearwater
AUG 12, Leaders: Lisa Hug, John Sterling, Alan Hopkins, Gerry McChesney, Steve Howell, Debra Shearwater
OCT 9, Leaders: John Sterling, Steve Howell, Lisa Hug, Debra Shearwater
OCT 17, Leaders: Lisa Hug, Jennifer Green, John Sterling, Debra Shearwater
FORT BRAGG:
AUG 8, Leaders: Lisa Hug, Clay Kempf, Debra Shearwater
AUG 10, Leaders: Lisa Hug, Linda Terrill, Scott Terrill, Clay Kempf, Debra Shearwater
MONTEREY BAY:
AUG 15, Leaders: Jennifer Green, Linda Terrill, Clay Kempf
AUG 22, Leaders: Clay Kempf, John Sterling, Jennifer Green, Brian Sullivan, Debra Shearwater
AUG 29, Leaders: Clay Kempf, Linda Terrill, Jennifer Green
SEP 7, Leaders: Clay Kempf, Scott Terrill, Linda Terrill, Jennifer Green, Debra Shearwater (almost sold out)
SEP 12, Leaders: Clay Kempf, Brian Sullivan, Debra Shearwater
SEP 13, Leaders: Linda Terrill, Scott Terrill, John Sterling, Brian Sullivan, Debra Shearwater, ALBACORE trip.
SEP 14, Leaders: Linda Terrill, Scott Terrill, John Sterling, Clay Kempf, Debra Shearwater
SEP 15, Leaders: Clay Kempf, Debra Shearwater
SEP 22, Leaders: David Vander Pluym, David Wimpfheimer, Debra Shearwater
SEP 25, Leaders: Jim Danzenbaker, Steve Howell, Debra Shearwater
SEP 26, Leaders: David Suddjian, Steve Gerow, Jennifer Green, Steve Howell, Debra Shearwater. This trip departs from SANTA CRUZ, a great location for folks coming from the Bay Area.
SEP 27, Leaders: Linda Terrill, Scott Terrill, Steve Howell, Debra Shearwater
SEP 28, Leaders: Jennifer Green, Steve Howell, Debra Shearwater
OCT 3, Leaders: Clay Kempf, Jennifer Green, Debra Shearwater
OCT 4, Leaders: Clay Kempf, Debra Shearwater
OCT 5, Leaders: Linda Terrill, Scott Terrill, Debra Shearwater
OCT 9, Leaders: John Sterling, Lisa Hug, Steve Howell, Debra Shearwater
OCT 12, Leaders: Clay Kempf, Scott Terrill, Linda Terrill, John Sterling, Jennifer Green, Debra Shearwater. This trip departs from SANTA CRUZ.
OCT 17, Leaders: John Sterling, Lisa Hug, Jennifer Green, Debra Shearwater
OCT 18, Leaders: Linda Terrill, Scott Terrill, Clay Kempf, Debra Shearwater
NOV 29, Leaders: Clay Kempf, Scott Terrill, Linda Terrill, Jennifer Green, Debra Shearwater
We thank all of the participants of the July 25th trip. The leaders for this day were: Jennifer Green, John Hiles, John Sterling, Brian Sullivan, Steve Howell, and Debra Shearwater. The full species list follows:
JULY 25, 2008 MONTEREY BAY
COMMON LOON- 2
BLACK-FOOTED ALBATROSS- 62
PINK-FOOTED SHEARWATER- 44
SOOTY SHEARWATER- 15-20,000
BROWN PELICAN- 200
BRANDT'S CORMORANT- 1000
PELAGIC CORMORANT- 4
LONG-TAILED DUCK- 1
HARLEQUIN DUCK- 1
LONG-BILLED CURLEW- 2
RED-NECKED PHALAROPE- 68
POMARINE JAEGER- 1
HEERMANN'S GULL- 250
RING-BILLED GULL- 1 juv.
WESTERN GULL- 200
WESTERN/GLAUCOUS-WINGED GULL- 2
SABINE'S GULL- 7
ELEGANT TERN- 200
CASPIAN TERN- 3
COMMON MURRE- 500+
PIGEON GUILLEMOT- 27
ANCIENT MURRELET- 1, oiled bird, off of Otter Point, near the kelp beds
CASSIN'S AUKLET- 2
SEA OTTER- 22
CALIFORNIA SEA LION- 200
HARBOR SEAL- 16
HUMPBACK WHALE- 8
NORTHERN RIGHT WHALE DOLPHIN- 20
PACIFIC WHITE-SIDED DOLPHIN- 45
OCEAN SUNFISH- 1
Shearwaters forever,
Debra
Debra Shearwater
Shearwater Journeys, Inc.
PO Box 190
Hollister, CA 95024
831.637.8527
www.shearwaterjourneys.com
*Antarctica, South Georgia, & The Falkland Islands, January 5-24, 2010*
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